Piston

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An internal-combustion engine goes through four strokes: intake, compression, combustion (power), and exhaust. As the piston moves during each stroke, it turns the crankshaft.

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This schematic of a piston and cylinder pump illustrates the relationship between gas molecules and pressure. When the piston is pushed into the cylinder, the air inside the cylinder becomes compressed. In this state, the gas molecules are close together and pressure within the cylinder is increased. When the plunger is pulled, the air inside the cylinder becomes decompressed. Thus, the gas molecules are farther apart than in the compressed state, and pressure within the piston chamber is reduced.

Learn about this topic in these articles:

aviation

During World War I several farsighted European entrepreneurs, emboldened by wartime progress in aviation, envisioned the possibilities of postwar airline travel. For many months after the war, normal rail travel in Europe remained problematic and irregular because of the shortage of passenger equipment and the destruction of tracks and bridges. In addition, chaotic political conditions in...

diesel engines

any internal-combustion engine in which air is compressed to a sufficiently high temperature to ignite diesel fuel injected into the cylinder, where combustion and expansion actuate a
piston. It converts the chemical energy stored in the fuel into mechanical energy, which can be used to power freight trucks, large tractors, locomotives, and marine vessels. A limited number of automobiles also...

fluid mechanics

Pressure is equal to the force divided by the area on which it acts. According to Pascal’s principle, in a hydraulic system a pressure exerted on a
piston produces an equal increase in pressure on another
piston in the system. If the second
piston has an area 10 times that of the first, the force on the second
piston is 10 times greater, though the pressure is the same as that on the first...

gasoline engines

The
pistons are cup-shaped cylindrical castings of steel or aluminum alloy. The upper, closed end, called the crown, forms the lower surface of the combustion chamber and receives the force applied by the combustion gases. The outer surface is machined to fit the cylinder bore closely and is grooved to receive
piston rings that seal the gap between the
piston and the cylinder wall. In the upper...

piston and cylinder

in mechanical engineering, sliding cylinder with a closed head (the
piston) that is moved reciprocally in a slightly larger cylindrical chamber (the cylinder) by or against pressure of a fluid, as in an engine or pump. The cylinder of a steam engine (
q.v.) is closed by plates at both ends, with provision for the
piston rod, which is rigidly attached to the
piston, to pass through one of...

pneumatic devices

...Successive volumes of air are confined within a closed space, and the pressure is increased by reducing the volume of the space. In the simple hand tire pump, pressure is developed by moving a
piston in a cylinder. The positive-displacement type may be subdivided into reciprocating (back-and-forth straight-line motion) and rotary (motion in a circular path) compressors. In a...

...a
piston or plunger moves back and forth. In plunger pumps the plunger moves through a stationary packed seal and is pushed into the fluid, while in
piston pumps the packed seal is carried on the
piston that pushes the fluid out of the cylinder. As the
piston moves outward, the volume available in the cylinder increases, and fluid enters through the one-way inlet valve. As the
piston moves...